Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
As Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 continues to dominate the box office, lots of moviegoers continue to enjoy the great music that's become one of the defining traits of the Marvel franchise. It's been nearly a decade since the original Guardians of the Galaxy hit theaters in 2014, first introducing us to the Quills' incredible taste in music and their curated Awesome Mixes, and most of these songs have stuck with us ever since. Tunes like "Hooked On a Feeling," "Mr. Blue Sky," and "Dog Days Are Over" became classics all over again, this time because of their use in those movies, so much so that many people think of them as "Guardians of the Galaxy songs."
This is all cool, but one of the most important characteristics of a mixtape is that it shouldn't be long. In the golden days of CD burning, you could only use up to 80 minutes of music, so curating a playlist was an art form in itself, and giving one to someone else was very personal and meant a lot. James Gunn seems to understand that pretty well, as he curated not one, but three different mixtapes for the Guardians movies, each with its vibe and tone. It's tough to decide on which is the best one because they are all equally awesome, but we can analyze them and come to a conclusion.
Awesome Mix Vol. 1
It's the planet Morag, inside the ruins of an ancient temple. A door opens and breaks centuries of silence, giving way to a tall figure wearing a metal mask with shiny red eyes. But what seemed to be an Indiana Jones-inspired sequence suddenly takes a contemporary tone, as Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) blasts "Come and Get Your Love" by Redbone on his Sony Walkman and dances his way to the last chamber. This is but one of the many iconic sequences of the sort, and established the Guardians franchise as one of the best in the current pop culture landscape.
This is an important trait of the first mixtape, Awesome Mix Vol. 1: it defined the Guardians' whole identity and overall vibe with killer '70s tracks. It started even before the movie was out, as "Hooked On a Feeling" by Blue Swede played in the trailers and became known as "the Guardians song" for almost a decade. While songs like "Moonage Daydream" by David Bowie helped shape the simultaneously nostalgic and futuristic vibe of the movie, others, like "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" by Rupert Holmes, had their meanings tied to the circumstance they were played in, like Star-Lord and his epic escape from the Kyln, or "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5 playing as Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) dances behind Drax's (Dave Bautista) back. So, though not all songs are directly connected to the story, the way James Gunn used them was clever enough to make them leave their mark. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell is the only song to have true emotional value in the end.
Another important thing about Vol. 1 is that, technically, those were not Peter Quill's songs, but his mother's. Meredith Quill (Laura Haddock) left her son this weird legacy and incredible taste for music, but that's what makes him such a cool character. While this means the Awesome Mix Vol. 1 is limited to songs from the '60s and '70s, narrowing the scope of what is available, it's impressive how many amazing songs we forgot over the years, so thanks, James Gunn.
Awesome Mix Vol. 2
Three years later, in 2017, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 came out and, with it, another killer selection of tracks curated by James Gunn. Awesome Mix Vol. 2 was based again on Meredith Quill's taste, as Peter finds another cassette tape at the end of the first Guardians movie. So we're talking only '70s songs again.
It also started off with the trailers of the movie, with "Fox on the Run" by Sweet playing repeatedly. The movie itself, though, is dominated by just one track: "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" by Looking Glass. Not only is it a great song, but it also depicts Ego's (Kurt Russell) relationship with Meredith Quill, from which we got Peter. It's played in multiple moments, and even Gunn admits the whole movie is about it. Another song with a personal impact on Quill is "Surrender" by Cheap Trick. This time, though, the lyrics portray the story from the son's perspective, as he watches his parents having a falling out and telling him lies about each other. It's a shame it was left for the end credits, but it would hardly have any space on the main narrative.
And, once again, we have many other great tracks left to make their mark on iconic moments. Right off the bat, we get "Mr. Blue Sky" by Electric Light Orchestra, as Baby Groot dances around while the Guardians fight off an Abilisk for the Sovereign. Later, our infantilized sequoia helps Yondu (Michael Rooker) make his escape to the sound of "Come a Little Bit Closer" by Jay and the Americans, and Rocket (Bradley Cooper) defeats a bunch of Ravagers while humming "Southern Nights" by Glen Campbell. Just before Ego is introduced, the Guardians have a fight to the sound of "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac — much like the band itself would fight in the studio, but the way. And, of course, we got "Guardians Inferno" by The Sneepers and Zardu Hasselfrau — I mean, David Hasselhoff himself — and its unforgettable music video.
Awesome Mix Vol. 3
At the end of Vol. 2, Kraglin (Sean Gunn) gives Quill a Zune, which is an MP3 player that allowed for thousands of songs to be stored in its memory — the 2000s were a different time, don't ask. So what was already a pretty good music taste now gets to meet at least three new decades of more music. And, as always, the trailers were already heralding the awesomeness of what was to come by playing "Do You Realize?" by The Flaming Lips and "In The Meantime" by Spacehog.
The latter even plays during the Orgocorp assault sequence and plays almost like what the Guardians themselves would say to anyone who asks them why they do what they do. Right before this sequence, Faith No More's "We Care a Lot" plays, almost like a pre-battle chant by the team to keep in mind they're doing this to save Rocket. Our beloved raccoon, by the way, is the heart and soul of the movie, so it's natural most of the songs connect to him. In the beginning, he plays Radiohead's "Creep" on the Knowhere sound system, reflecting how he felt about himself then, but caps everything in the end with "Dog Days Are Over" by Florence + The Machine, a moment of self-acceptance not just for him, but for the whole team. A little earlier, he hums "This Is the Day" by The The as the Guardians prepare to storm the High Evolutionary's (Chukwudi Iwuji) ship, showing how much his life changed with him remembering his friends of Batch 89.
The whole movie has lots of other great songs, like "San Francisco" by The Mowgli's, and even its healthy dose of the '70s with Rainbow's "Since You've Been Gone," but leaves another cathartic tune to the credits, as Bruce Springsteen's "Badlands" feels almost like a personal statement by James Gunn after his journey to becoming the most influential name on current pop culture cinema.
Our Verdict
Again, crowning only one Awesome Mix as the best is an extremely difficult task, one that might even seem unfair, given that each of those mixtapes plays a role in their respective movies. In fact, we love them all so much, that we still hear even the songs that didn't make the cut, and even started listening to The Old 97s after the Holiday Special. That's how big an influence these mixtapes had on our lives.
Still, we're here to settle a debate, so let's do it. We've analyzed all of them through a few criteria, like the songs they use in great moments, the tracks that have an influence on the story, and which ones depict the personal feelings of the characters. So, bearing all these in mind and also the decades they encompass, Awesome Mix Vol. 3 is probably the best. Not only do nearly all the songs carry emotional impact, but they also reflect directly what's going on in each character's life, as well as the main storyline of the movie. That doesn't mean the other mixtapes are worse than it, or we don't like them, because we love them, but Vol. 3 meets all the criteria we deemed important for a Guardians movie soundtrack. So get your best headphones, let's hear it for the winner!
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